Uninsured rate drops again in state

By Alexander Soule

Updated
5:03 pm EDT, Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Nurse Lisa Kalafus checks a patient’s blood pressure in October 2015 in Bridgeport, Conn., during St. Vincent’s Medical Center’s inaugural Medical Mission at Home offering free medical services to people lacking insurance. In 2015, another 35,000 people obtained health insurance in Connecticut according to a U.S. Census Bureau report on Sept. 13, 2016. less

Nurse Lisa Kalafus checks a patient’s blood pressure in October 2015 in Bridgeport, Conn., during St. Vincent’s Medical Center’s inaugural Medical Mission at Home offering free medical services to people ... more

Photo: Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media

Photo: Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media

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Nurse Lisa Kalafus checks a patient’s blood pressure in October 2015 in Bridgeport, Conn., during St. Vincent’s Medical Center’s inaugural Medical Mission at Home offering free medical services to people lacking insurance. In 2015, another 35,000 people obtained health insurance in Connecticut according to a U.S. Census Bureau report on Sept. 13, 2016. less

Nurse Lisa Kalafus checks a patient’s blood pressure in October 2015 in Bridgeport, Conn., during St. Vincent’s Medical Center’s inaugural Medical Mission at Home offering free medical services to people ... more

Photo: Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media

Uninsured rate drops again in state

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Another 35,000 Connecticut residents secured health insurance on a net basis in 2015, lowering the rate of people lacking coverage to 6 percent of the state’s population according to new estimates Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

In the two years since an Affordable Care Act mandate took effect in 2014 that penalizes individuals if they do not obtain insurance, an additional 125,000 people enrolled in Connecticut, not counting any new adds in 2016.

Obamacare has been in turmoil this summer, however, with United Healthcare stating plans to withdraw from Access Health Connecticut and Aetna serving notice it plans to extricate itself from similar state exchanges designed to help people secure affordable insurance. After indicating last week it would follow suit, ConnectiCare reversed course Tuesday to remain in Access Health Connecticut.

In July, the Connecticut Insurance Department ordered the suspension of the HealthyCT nonprofit insurer created under the auspices of the Affordable Care Act, forcing at least 13,000 people to seek other options for coverage.

It makes for an uncertain open enrollment season that kicks off in earnest in November. At a July meeting of the Access Health CT board of directors, CEO Jim Wadleigh noted the ripple effect of HealthyCT’s failure on the overall market and that he is in ongoing conversations with private carriers.

“This is always a topic of conversation that we have, related to the sustainability of the Connecticut marketplace,” Wadleigh said in July. “We are still in flux and we need to continue to collaborate with the carriers.”